March 14, 2013
Sick, twisted, immoral – just some of the words to describe people who post derogatory and sometimes disgusting comments about sensitive topics online.
The rise of social media has given these people, or “trolls” as they are known, a platform to write hateful comments towards celebrities, families who have suffered bereavements or anyone they choose, all from behind a keyboard.
Over the last few years, there has been a number of instances of “trolls” sending death threats on Twitter to numerous celebrities, or sending hurtful messages in a bit to provoke a reaction. One man took action though this week, and has been heralded online for his actions.
Curtis Woodhouse, the boxer and former light-welterweight champion, received months of abuse from one Twitter user, and decided to take action into his own hands.
The Guardian reports:
“The boxer was so enraged with the tweets from Jimmyob88 that he offered his followers a £1,000 reward if they could help him locate the culprit. Woodhouse’s growing number of Twitter followers chipped in and managed to track down his troll.
Woodhouse set off to find his troll, tweeting a photograph of the street on which Jimmyob88 lived. “Right Jimbob, I’m here,” he wrote, adding: “Someone tell me what number he lives at or do I have to knock on every door #itsshowtime.”
Realising the error of his ways, Jimmyob88 replied: “I am sorry it’s getting a bit out of hand. I am in the wrong. I accept that.” A triumphant Woodhouse went home, joking that he could have saved himself some petrol money by blocking his cowardly abuser.
Whilst we don’t condone violence towards so-called “trolls” on Twitter, by standing up and taking action this one troll has learned the error of his ways.
For brands using social media, this isn’t really an option. Customer service on Facebook and Twitter is commonplace now, with companies using social media as a platform to deal with customers and solve complaints. But what do you do with those hardcore customers who hate your company no matter what you do or say?
The answer: get creative. For those people on social media that have a problem with your company for no apparent reason, this is the way to go. Last year, Bodyform received a complaint from Richard Neill, who complained that they had lied in their adverts. Bodyform got creative with their response and produced the video below, not only rendering the complaint null and void but earning admiration and respect from people across the world.
Unfortunately “trolls” are not going to go away any time soon. Until the law steps in and cracks down on this behaviour, the only answer is to do one thing: get creative and outsmart the naysayers to succeed.
Picture courtesy of JeepersMedia photostream, Treasure Troll, Flickr under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license